


stranger than all my dreams.

by paleromantic



Series: stranger than all my dreams. [1]
Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, M/M, Mentions of canon events and abuse, More Tags Will Be Added as the Story Goes On, Mostly Fluff, Some angst, aaron is stressed, andrew and neil are kids, foxes babysitting andrew and neil, mild smut in chapter 9, nothing graphic just good old implied straight people sex, renee is good with them
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-16
Updated: 2018-10-18
Packaged: 2019-07-12 20:51:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 16,543
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16003082
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/paleromantic/pseuds/paleromantic
Summary: “Andrew.” Aaron let out a slow breath, and the blond kid immediately looked slightly freaked out.“How do you know my name?” His little voice was dripping with suspicion, and Aaron still couldn’t bring himself to do much else than stare at him.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [trubenblack](https://archiveofourown.org/users/trubenblack/gifts).



> Okay so this is a new project I'm starting! The updates might not be very regular but I'm going to try my best guys, enjoy!

Aaron considered himself to be a morning person. Being in pre-med like he was, most of his classes were early, or at least before noon, so he had had to get used to waking up early pretty quickly. Plus, there had been a little extra motivation in it to see Katelyn before class, to walk her to the building whenever he could.

Still, he had his limits. One of which happened to be waking up to screaming just after the sun had come up.

“What the _fuck_ is going on?” He pulled on a clean shirt and scrubbed his face with his hand, walking out into the main room and then stopping dead, blinking.

In the middle of the room, two children were standing back to back, and there was a distressed looking Nicky hovering near them. On Aaron’s approach, the older man’s eyes filled with tears and the two children turned to face him too.

Oh fuck. There were two little boys, one slightly taller than the other but both wearing similar expressions of confusion and fear. The taller boy had a shock of auburn hair that stood up in tangled curls on his head, and bright blue eyes that were hard and observant. The other boy was as familiar to Aaron as his own reflection though, because, well-

“Andrew.” Aaron let out a slow breath, and the blond kid immediately looked slightly freaked out.

“How do you know my name?” His little voice was dripping with suspicion, and Aaron still couldn’t bring himself to do much else than stare at him.

“Nicky, what the fuck?”

Nicky swallowed and sniffed wetly. “I-I came out and found them like this, they- Neil, he-”

Aaron finally tore his gaze away from his brother, and saw what Nicky was talking about. Neil- Nathaniel, Aaron supposed, was bleeding from his right hand, and it had dripped a little onto the floor.

Medical instincts kicking in, Aaron took a step forward and sank down to their level. “Hey, uh… What’s your name, kid?”

Neil, skittish even as an adult, looked apprehensive before finally giving in. “Nathaniel.”

Aaron nodded. “Okay, Nathaniel, I’m Aaron. Can I see your hand?”

Nathaniel narrowed his eyes, but held out his small hand nonetheless. Aaron inspected it, and he hissed slightly though his teeth. Shards of glass were embedded in the boy’s hand, and causing blood to pump out.

“Shit, Nicky get a first aid kit, and a brush. Did you drop a glass?”

Neil- no, _Nathaniel_ nodded, and Aaron sighed, before starting to pull the pieces of glass out of him. The boy’s bottom lip wobbled threateningly, and Andrew bristled beside him as if Aaron were hurting him on purpose.

Even as kids, they were fucking ridiculous.

Once Nicky got the first aid kit, Aaron cleaned out the cut as gently as he could, wrapping it in clean, white bandage and tying it firmly. Nathaniel thanked him, almost too quiet to hear, and Aaron, despite himself, felt his heart sink a little.

He wondered if anyone had ever patched Neil up so gently before.

Pushing that thought away, he helped Nicky to clean up the rest of the broken glass in the kitchen, and threw it away. Nicky had calmed down by then, now that no one was bleeding, and they were both more level headed by the time they made their way out to the boys again.

When they re-emerged, Andrew and Nathaniel had both moved to the couch, and were watching television. Nathaniel’s choice, clearly, as they were watching one of Kevin’s Exy DVD’s and Andrew looked bored out of his mind. He wasn’t complaining though, and if the way he glanced at Nathaniel every couple of seconds was anything to go by, he would have been too distracted to watch anything else too. It would have been sweet, if it weren’t his brother and _Josten_.

When he and Nicky walked in though, both pairs of eyes locked onto them and Aaron went to a chair across the room to sit down, not wanting to freak them out. Nicky followed him, sitting down on the couch beside him.

Nathaniel looked at Andrew, and they did their creepy silent conversation thing- apparently they could still do that- before Nathaniel looked at them again.

“Is Andrew staying with you now? And where’s my mom?”

Aaron didn’t really know what to say to either of those. Nicky looked as nervous as he felt, as he opened his mouth and then closed it again.

“Both of you are going to be staying here for a while. Andrew’s family needed someone to watch him and Nathaniel, your mom asked us to look after you.”

Neil looked highly sceptical. “You don’t know my mom.”

Aaron racked his brain, before shaking his head. “Her name is Mary Hatford, she asked us to look out for you while she… went to find her brother?”

Nathaniel frowned, then. “She went to find Uncle Stuart?”

That seemed to appease him though, and he settled down again, his leg pressing into Andrew’s. Aaron rubbed his face and groaned. He had never been good with normal children, never mind these two.

Nicky seemed to find his voice then, smiling and looking over at them. “What age are you both?”

Andrew fixed his gaze on the older man, whereas Nathaniel merely glanced at him before returning his attention to the game on the screen. “Six.”

Aaron let out a breath that he hadn’t realised he’d been holding. Six years old, and he could already see the scars that were peeking out from under Nathaniel’s shirt, reaching up towards his collarbones. He hadn’t thought it possible, but he felt an irrational urge to protect the little shit.

He pulled out his phone and held it in his hands, debating his options. He knew that everyone would come if he told them it was an emergency, but he was pretty sure that it wasn’t the best idea to swarm Andrew and Neil- fuck, Nathaniel, with lots of new faces at once. They didn’t like that as adults, they would probably hate it as scared, confused kids.

He made his decision quicker than he thought he would, and texted Renee and Katelyn, telling them both to come to the dorm. The other foxes could be dealt with later, the priority now was to figure out what the hell had happened, and to stop the kids from bolting as soon as they had the chance to.

 

********************

 

Renee widened her eyes as she took in the scene in front of her.

“I see what you meant by an emergency, Aaron.”

Neil and Andrew looked up at her in faint annoyance and slight apprehensiveness, as if she was going to hurt them somehow. Although, based on both of their prior experiences, she supposed that it wasn’t exactly that much of an overreaction for them. The thought made her heart hurt. She grabbed her bag, and then took out the supplies she had brought with her. Aaron had mentioned that the emergency had involved both Andrew and Neil, so she had come prepared for both, bringing a box of strawberries as well as a bag of fun-sized candy bars.

She opened the bag and took out a handful of bars, holding them out to Andrew who took them immediately, suspicious but never one to turn down free sweets. Neil, on the other hand, was harder to crack, although eventually he took the fruit and tore it open around the edges gently.

Both happier than they had been when she arrived, they seemed a lot more relaxed and open to strangers talking to them.

“My name is Renee, I’m a friend of Aaron’s.”

Aaron nodded from the doorway. “This is Andrew and Nathaniel. Guys, Renee is going to be watching you for a few hours.” He checked his phone again, and then grabbed his coat. “Katelyn is outside, we’re going to run and get some groceries for these little monsters. Do you need anything?”

Renee thanked him but declined, instead focusing on helping Neil to take the stems out of his strawberries, to make them easier to eat. Neil gave her a small, grateful smile, and murmured his thanks to her, so she beamed at him. “You’re very welcome, Nathaniel.”

Andrew stared at her, before turning his gaze downwards. “What are those?”

Renee followed his gaze to the scars on her knuckles and the backs of her hands, and she smiled softly. Of course Andrew would notice those first. Now that she thought of it, Neil had been looking at her hands a lot too.

“When I was younger, I had some bad people around me, and I got hurt sometimes. I’m safe now though, just like you’re safe now.”

She watched them both swallow that information down, and saw the grim recognition in both of their eyes. She hated it, but she supposed that there was nothing that she could do for them, no way for her to make the past better for either of them, other than making the present better.

Andrew, surprisingly, reacted first, frowning endearingly. “I won’t let them hurt you again.”

Renee’s heart broke just a little bit. The higher pitch of his voice took the threat clean out of the words, but she had no doubts that he meant every bit of it, that he wouldn’t allow anyone to hurt her without his intervention. Slowly, she held out her hand to him. Slower, he took it.

She smiled softly, and squeezed his fingers. “It won’t come to that, Andrew.”

He frowned deeper, but then nodded. “Okay.”

“Will you watch Exy with us?” Neil’s voice had a slight whistle in it due to a missing tooth, and good Lord, those boys were going to be the death of her. Andrew let out a long, tortured sigh beside him, and Renee laughed.

“Of course, but how about some ice cream first?”

Andrew immediately perked up a bit, and Renee stood up to walk with them to the kitchen, Andrew’s hand still tightly clasped in hers.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OOoooh look at that quick update where's my medal??? Enjoy!!!! Aaron is so sweet

Andrew had never been to a park before.

There hadn’t been very many parks near the foster homes he was usually sent to, and even the other ones hadn’t allowed him to go. He was basically stuck in the confines of the house wherever he went, so it had been a real shock to the system when Aaron and his girlfriend- Katelyn- decided to take them in their car to the park nearby.

It was a sunny day out, so there were a lot of families there. Andrew didn’t care about them, they were too loud.

He grabbed Nathaniel’s hand as they made their way onto the grass, and he heard Katelyn cooing behind them. She seemed to do that whenever he and Nathaniel were close together, it was weird.

"Don't run off too far, guys!" She grinned and then stopped with Aaron by the edge of the grass, where the benches were. Andrew rolled his eyes and pulled Neil by the arm, over to the swings, which were mercifully empty.

Aaron snorted and then linked their hands together, bringing their joined hands up so he could kiss the back of hers. "They’re just as stubborn as kids as they are as adults, good luck trying to stop them.”

Katelyn sighed and then relaxed back in the seat. "They really are good kids, though. It’s hard to believe that they’ve been through so much already.”

Aaron’s jaw clenched, and he nodded “Yeah.”

Across the grass, Neil laughed softly as Andrew dropped his hand to grab the chains of the swing. "Want me to push you, Drew?"

Andrew took a look at the swings, before eyeing the much safer looking net swing. Less of a chance of him falling off that one, he figured. He shook his head quickly, and then led Neil to that one instead, climbing in and pulling him after him. The net was made from rough fibres, and it stung a little as his skin dragged against it, but he ignored it in favour of wiggling up so that he could climb in without having to jump.

"Aaron can push us."

Aaron groaned and let go of Katelyn’s hand, shoving his phone into his pocket and tugging his jeans up as he stood to walk over to them. "That's my cue, I guess."

Katelyn patted him on the shoulder and grinned, chuckling. "Go get 'em, tiger, I’ll keep the bench warm."

Neil crossed his legs and held onto the chains of that swing, glancing from Andrew to Aaron, back to Andrew. He had clearly never been on a swing before, since he didn’t seem very sure of what to do. Aaron was really sick of feeling so bad for the kid all the time.

Andrew wrapped a small hand around the chain, the other firmly gripping Neil's shirt and keeping him close. He looked nervous already, the butterflies in his stomach from being off the ground ready to tumble out of his stomach.

Aaron came over then, wiping his hands on his jeans before putting his hands on the side of the swing. "You ready, guys?"

Andrew swallowed, and then nodded. He didn't want Neil to know he was scared, even if he did feel like he was going to vomit.

Neil nodded. “Yes, sir.”

"Told you that you could call me Aaron, Nei-" Aaron huffed. "Nathaniel. Just call me Aaron, okay?"

He pushed the swing gently, watching the way Andrew's grip tightened on the chains. Neil watched him, and then turned to pick at the fibres on the swing. “Why does everyone call me that?”

Aaron paused. “What?”

“Neil.”

“It’s… a nickname.” Aaron huffed. “Nathaniel is kind of a mouthful, kid. If you don’t want us to call you that, just tell us and we’ll all stop.”

He had been trying not to anyway, but the kid was just so Neil that it was hard to attach the other name to him. Neil nodded, slowly, and his little frown disappeared. “Okay, Aaron.”

"You alright, Andrew?" The boy nodded, although he looked a little paler than usual. Aaron frowned slightly. “Do you want to go higher, guys?"

Andrew didn’t reply at first, but once Neil had nodded, he gave a short nod. Aaron pushed them a little higher, then, and Andrew immediately felt his stomach drop.  He bunched his hand up in Neil's shirt, obviously on edge now by the way his spine had gone stiff. Aaron spotted it, and he slowed them down a little again, so that they weren’t going as high.

"Andrew?” The kid was non-responsive, and Aaron’s heart stuttered. “Andrew, look at me.”

Neil reached out and grabbed Andrew's hand, finally getting the other boy’s attention. "Hey, you're safe, okay Drew?”

Andrew gripped his hand tight. It was almost cute, except for how nervous he looked as he clung to him. His knuckles were white where they gripped his shirt. "Neil."

Andrew gritted his teeth and Aaron felt his heart squeeze a little, and he stopped the swing until it was just a gentle sway. Guilt sat heavy in his stomach at the thought of upsetting his brother like that, but he pushed it down. It happened, with kids. He couldn’t have known.

Only then did Andrew seem to calm down, detaching himself from the other boy. His face slowly regained colour, and he loosened his vice-like grip on the swing. Neil grinned at him, and then linked their fingers again, kicking his legs gently to keep them swinging. “It’s okay, Andrew!”

Andrew turned his gaze away as he turned slightly pink. "Thanks."

Aaron rolled his eyes and then let them swing, taking his phone out to check his texts, sending off a couple of replies. Andrew and Neil were still so themselves, it was weird to look at sometimes. Although, he supposed, these kids were the essence of Andrew and Neil, the core of their personalities before the world had made them both angry, and scared. Moreso than they were now, anyway.

He shoved his hands in his pockets. “Come get us when you’re ready to go, okay?”

Andrew nodded, and Neil grinned at him before he walked away, going back to Katelyn before his train of thought could get any more depressing.

 

********************

 

"Aaron?"

Andrew stopped by the door to the kitchen and crossed his arms across his chest. He had seemingly left Neil to watch television on his own, from what Aaron could hear from the other room.

"Yeah, buddy?" Aaron looked over at him, and almost laughed. Andrew looked ridiculous, his face smudged with graphite from when he and Neil were drawing earlier.

"You need a bath?"

Andrew nodded, and then frowned. "I do not know how to on my own."

Aaron paused, and then put down the packet of instant noodles he had been getting from the cupboard. He didn't pretend to know what Andrew had been through in his previous homes, but he did know that children weren't supposed to be left alone in the bath. What if he had _drowned_?

"I'll help you, Andrew." Aaron was pretty sure that had been the worst of Andrew's troubles, though.

Andrew tilted his head curiously. "Neil too?"

Aaron rolled his eyes. Bathing Neil Josten hadn’t exactly been on his bucket list, but it wasn’t as if they had any other options. "Neil too, Andrew. Go get him, would you?"

Andrew rushed down the hall to where Nathaniel was. "Neil, bath time!"

Nathaniel pouted and turned down the volume on the television. "Andrew, Exy is on!"

Andrew scowled, and grabbed the remote, turning the television off and throwing it onto the chair. "Did you not hear me? It's bath time!"

Nathaniel whined and then slid off the couch, following Andrew out to the kitchen. Aaron had fetched them towels and clean clothes from the hamper by then, and he brought them to the bathroom, turning the taps on to let the bath fill.

"Do you wanna bath one at a time, or together?"

Andrew just shrugged. "Whatever."

Aaron snorted, and then tested the water, adding bubbles. "Fine then, put your clothes in the laundry basket."

Andrew tugged off his shirt and hugged himself as he stood by the bath. Aaron helped him to step into the bath when he was undressed, holding his arm. "There, now sit down carefully okay? Neil, you too buddy."

Neil did as he was told, imitating how Andrew carried himself as they both sat into the bath together. Aaron paused, before grabbing the bath sponge and dipping it in the water. His eyes kept returning to the awful scars all over Neil's torso. They weren’t as faded now that they were fresher, and they stood out clearly against his skin, angry and red.

"They're not painful, are they?"

Neil blinked. "What?"

"The scars, Neil." Aaron started to wash his back gently, trying not to press too hard on them.

"Huh? What about them?" Neil swirled his fingers in the water, playing with the bubbles, a slight frown tugging at his lips.

"Do they still hurt you?"

Andrew frowned at Neil and then looked at the scars, as if he hadn’t realised what they had implied. "They hurt?'"

"No. Yes. Sometimes...?" He "If I pick at them, sometimes, it hurts."

Aaron nodded, and mentally added scar healing cream to his grocery list. Actually, Neil probably had some in his room, if he looked.

He gently washed the sweat and dirt off Neil, before moving on to Andrew. "Can you shampoo your own hair, Neil? Or do you want me to do it?"

"Aaron, my name isn't Neil, but I can yeah." Nathaniel really wasn’t sure how he felt about the nickname, and it showed all over his face.

Aaron snorted. "Sorry, Nathaniel."

Andrew inched forward to let Aaron run shampoo through the blonde strands of hair. Aaron found himself smiling, and he lathered up the shampoo until there was a pile of bubbles on his head.

He helped Nathaniel to do the same. "Is the water warm enough for you guys?"

Andrew splashed the water a little, Nathaniel wincing and looking away. "Warm enough," said the blonde.

"Don't be a dick, Drew." Aaron rolled his eyes, and wiped the water off of Nathaniel’s face.

"Language," mumbled Andrew.

Aaron rolled his eyes. "Neil, is the water okay?"

Nathaniel nodded, and then Aaron moved to dunk the boy’s head under the water gently, to wash away the bubbles.  Immediately, he knew he had done something wrong when Neil started to freeze up, and struggle in his arms.

"No, nononono!"

Andrew widened his eyes and reached out, trying to grab onto the boy. "Neil? N-Nathaniel...?"

Neil's nails dug into Aaron's arms and he let the boy go, but that didn't stop him from thrashing around as he started to cry. Andrew whined and leaned back against the bath as he let Aaron handle the boy.

"Is he okay?" Aaron had never seen Andrew look so distressed before in his life, besides maybe Baltimore.

"Nathaniel, you need to look at me okay?" Aaron had no fucking idea what he was doing, but he kept his voice soft and gently, so he wouldn’t scare the kid. "Nathaniel, you're safe, I'm sorry I won’t put your head under the water again I'm-"

The boy cut him off with a sob, and then he curled up into a ball, mumbling apologies. Andrew was stunned, frozen in place.

Aaron swallowed, and then took a deep breath. "Nathaniel, I'm going to wash your hair off with the hose so that you can get out, is that okay?"

A tiny nod. Andrew whined, ignoring Aaron's gentle approach and reaching out to grab Nathaniel. "Are you okay? What's happening?!"

Nathaniel flinched, hard, and then whimpered. "M-My dad..."

Aaron’s stomach flipped. He could see where this was going, but he didn’t dare interrupt the boy when he was speaking so freely. "He u-used to hold me under the water when I was bad..."

"Bad?" Andrew’s expression was grim, and Aaron got the feeling that he knew how likely it was that Neil hadn’t been misbehaving at all. After all, so did Aaron. Neil nodded, looking upset, and Aaron sighed.

"No one is going to hurt you here, Nathaniel. You're... you're a good kid, okay?"

Neil sniffed, and then looked up at him. "You promise?"

Aaron smiled and nodded again. "I promise. Cross my heart, alright?"

Neil nodded, and then sat still enough that Aaron could rinse his hair easily. After that, he let Neil towel dry his own hair as he did the same for Andrew, before helping them to get out of the bath and get dressed.

"That feels better, right?"

Neil arched his back and scratching at his scars. "Yes, sir."

"Nathaniel, you don't have to call me that." Aaron shook his head and put the towels in the laundry basket.

"Yes… Aaron?" Neil seemed unsure of himself, probably not used to being able to talk normally to adults. With the family he had had, it was no wonder.

Aaron chuckled and ruffled his hair. "Exactly. Now, let’s get ready for bed, yeah?”

Both boys immediately started to complain, and Aaron rolled his eyes. Dramatic little fuckers, both of them.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is super soft I'm crying, I love Aaron so much okay he's my boy

David Wymack definitely was _not_ being paid enough for this shit.

Aaron had only called him once before since he had joined the Foxes almost four years prior, so it wasn’t like he could ignore the call, and then he had rushed straight over to Fox Tower. He had no idea what was happening though, since Aaron told him that it would be best if he just saw from himself. Therefore, he wasn’t prepared at _all_ for what was waiting for him.

“They’re… kids.”

Neil and Andrew were sitting on the couch, and Wymack couldn’t believe his eyes. They couldn’t have been any more than six, and they both looked incredibly small, even compared to how short they were as adults. They were smaller, frailer, but _undeniably_ themselves. Andrew was curled up and reading, the book propped up on his legs and from what Wymack could see, Neil had his hand bunched up in the boy’s shirt as he watched the television, his thumb firmly stuck in his mouth. It was a children’s book, so he assumed that Aaron had gone out and bought it for him especially.

“Yeah, they are.” Aaron sounded exhausted, and he scratched his head before walking towards the couch, grabbing the boys’ attention. They frowned at him before their eyes landed on Wymack, and then he saw Neil stiffen, and Andrew start to look uncomfortable. Shit.

“Drew, Nathaniel, this is Wymack. He’s my exy coach.” Aaron yawned, and Wymack rolled his eyes. The problems of a single father. He tapped the man’s shoulder, and then sent him to his bedroom to sleep. He could handle Andrew and Neil, he was pretty sure.

Wymack watched as Neil mouthed the words ‘exy couch’ under his breath as he moved back into the seat, and he raised an eyebrow at the nervous looks Andrew was giving him. Both boys were clearly uncomfortable, so he tried to keep his voice soft, and quiet. He really didn’t want to upset them.

“Hey, guys.” Both of them looked deeply suspicious of his very existence, and he considered his next words. He knew that Neil had had problems with him even as an adult, so God only knew how the kid would react to him now. Still, he knew at least one thing that they had in common.

“Are you watching Exy?” He took a step forward, stopping as Neil flinched backwards again and Andrew threw out an arm in front of him, as if to shield him from danger. It would have been cute, if it didn’t break his heart so bad. Still, Neil nodded slowly, and then held up the remote to turn up the volume a little. He seemed conflicted, as if he wanted to talk about it, but didn’t trust anyone enough to talk to. He doubted Andrew was eager to talk about the sport, either.

“What teams are playing?” He sat down on the edge of the armchair and glanced at the screen. It was an old foxes game, from before Andrew, Aaron and Nicky had joined the team. He could see that the foxes were losing, but he chuckled anyway. It must have been one of the tapes he had given to Kevin, that Aaron had rooted out for the kid.

“Foxes and Jackals.” Neil’s voice was quiet, far too quiet for the kid that Wymack knew, but he had spoken so he counted it as a win. He also had an accent, a faint Baltimore accent that affected his voice, one that he had lost by the time he had joined the Foxes.

“Oh, that’s cool! What do you think of them?” He watched the two boys, watched as Neil’s eyebrows furrowed and he focused on the screen for a couple of seconds. Andrew didn’t look like he was listening either, he just curled up further into the couch and held onto Neil gently as he flipped a page in his book.

Neil seemed to struggle to find the words. “The foxes fight a lot. If they were friends, they could win.”

Wymack almost laughed. Understatement of the year, really, and quite fitting given the way that Neil himself had brought the foxes together almost as soon as he joined them. “You think so? Maybe it would be different if you were playing with them, you seem like a friendly kid.”

Neil’s eyes went wide, and his mouth fell open a little. “I could play?”

Wymack chuckled and nodded. “Of course you could, you could even play for the Foxes if you wanted.”

“Andrew too?”

Andrew blinked and raised his head, seemingly surprised to have been mentioned at all, and then he grimaced. “I do not want to play exy.”

Neil pouted. “Andrew!”

Andrew gave Wymack a weary look, and he sighed before nodding, turning the page a little more aggressively. “Fine.”

Wymack grinned. Old habits died hard, he supposed. “I could even take you to see a real Exy court later this week, if you want. And if Aaron says it’s okay.”

Neil lit up. “You can? A real life exy court?”

The kid was precious, and Wymack couldn’t imagine the type of things that Neil had had to go to, to become the adult he had. He didn’t want to imagine, either.

Andrew grimaced, and then grabbed the remote to change the channel, and Neil yelped as he turned the exy tape off. Wymack snorted, and then reached out to snatch it away from them, neither of them flinching that time. His chest felt warm.

“Alright, Andrew, what would you like to watch?”

 

********************

 

“Renee.”

Renee looked up from her book, dog-earing the page and putting it down as Andrew approached. He was tall for his age, a cruel joke if she had ever heard on, but he still had to climb a little to get up onto the seat. She offered her arm as help, and he paused before he accepted it, gripping her forearm with his tiny hand. Once he was up, she turned to face him with a smile.

“Are you alright, Andrew?”

“Neil went with Aaron.” Andrew’s lip jutted out a little in an almost pout, and Renee had to hide her smile. She knew that Aaron had taken Neil with him grocery shopping while Andrew stayed at home since he wasn’t feeling well, but it seemed that he was feeling better enough to be up and about.

She chuckled softly. “They’ve gone to get groceries, Andrew. They’ll be back soon.”

Andrew kicked his legs petulantly and nodded, and Renee felt a smile tugging at her lips. He really was such a sweet kid, especially where Neil was concerned. She was sure adult Andrew would try to stab her for thinking it, but adult Andrew wasn’t there right now.

“Would you like to do something?” She raised an eyebrow, and waited for Andrew to answer her.

“Fort.”

Renee blinked, and then grinned brightly. “You want to build a pillow fort?”

Andrew nodded, and Renee helped him off the couch again, telling him where to go to fetch some blankets. While he did that, she started to gather all of the pillows she could find, putting them into a pile for Andrew to sort through when he returned. Then, she got some chairs from the kitchen, dragging them into the room and setting them up as a base for the fort to be built around. Andrew came back then, dragging blankets after him and dumping them on the floor beside the pillows.

“Have you ever built one before?” Renee bit her lip as Andrew shook his head, keeping his head down and nudging the pillow with his feet.

“I’ll teach you, okay?”

Andrew nodded then, and Renee took her time showing him how to stack the pillows to build walls, as well as lining the floor with them. From there, it was easy for both of them to pull the blanket over the top to make a roof. Andrew seemed quietly pleased with himself, and Renee felt her chest warm.

“Would you like to go inside, Andrew?”

He nodded, biting his lip, and she went to retrieve Aaron’s school laptop before crawling inside, holding the blanket to the side for Andrew to do the same. His tiny body wriggled in next to hers, and she moved over to make space for him, pushing the laptop open and logging into the guest account.

“What would you like to watch, Andrew?”

“Anything but Exy.” He huffed and then pushed his chin into his arms, tilting his head adorably and watching the screen as she typed into the search bar.

“How about some cartoons?”

He shrugged, and then propped his hand up under his chin. “Don’t know.”

Renee searched through the children’s suggestions and settled on a fairly non-threatening looking cartoon, one with knights and princesses and dragons. Andrew watched the screen closely, and she smiled as she tilted the screen down a little for him.

“Thanks.” His voice was soft in the quiet of the fort and his ‘s’ caught just slightly on his teeth, giving him a lisp. 

“It’s really no trouble, Andrew.”

He hugged himself tighter. “Will I have to leave here again? I like it here.”

Renee paused, and then held out her hand. After a second, he took it, his little fingers wrapping tight around her own. She thought about how Andrew had been bounced around from home to home, and probably had gotten used to not being wanted around. It made her angry just to think about, and she squeezed his hand gently.

“Andrew, you’re not going anywhere. Aaron and I would never let that happen.”

Andrew looked doubtful, and she sighed, turning down the volume on the laptop. He glanced at the screen before looking back at her again, and she repeated herself firmly.

“Aaron and I don’t want you to go anywhere, Andrew. You or Neil, for that matter.”

Andrew took a second to digest that, before nodding once and turning back to the screen. And, if his eyes got watery at any point, Renee didn’t mention it.

 

********************

 

“Neil, I _told_ you to hold onto the shopping cart.” Aaron rolled his eyes as Neil bashfully put his hand on the cart again, gripping it gently. He didn’t believe that for a second, he was pretty sure that Neil had never been bashful before in his life.

He looked around as they walked, and Aaron took things off the shelf to buy. Shopping for kids was a lot different than shopping for adults, since he wanted them to eat good food, sometimes. They couldn’t exactly live on a diet of ice cream and cigarettes anymore, so they might as well eat a few vegetables while they were at it. Neil wrinkled his nose slightly as he saw the vegetables Aaron was putting into the cart but he didn’t really care. He’d find a way to make him eat it, anyway.

“Can we get strawberries?” Neil’s accents rounded out his ‘r’s adorably, and Aaron chuckled as he reached over to put two boxes of strawberries in the cart. Neil grinned brightly at him, and then kept walking, pulling the cart after him.

Aaron made sure to get some meat that he could cook, since Andrew had said that he hadn’t tried many things before. He had no idea when they would be back to normal, but he figured that he could give them a good time before they were adults again. He hadn’t gotten to see Andrew as a kid the first time, so he was going to make the most of it now. Neil too, even if they didn’t get along as adults.

“We hafta get ice cream, for Andrew.” Neil started to pull the cart, veering over towards the frozen aisles. Aaron laughed and pushed it after him. Of course the kid would be looking out for Andrew. When they got to the ice cream section, Neil climbed up onto the bumper in front of it, reaching up on his tiptoes to reach Andrew’s favourite ice cream flavours, triple chocolate and birthday cake.

It was a wonder the kid didn’t have diabetes already. Although, he probably didn’t get enough treats to get it anyway, with the way his childhood had gone. Aaron hummed, and then quietly agreed to let the kid eat as much as he wanted, _after_ dinner.

“Hey, Nathaniel, c’mon.” He ruffled the kid’s hair and then started pushing the cart towards the checkouts. “Help me pack these, yeah?”

Neil nodded eagerly and grinned. “And then we’re going home?”

Aaron blinked, and then smiled. He could almost imagine a scenario like this, years down the road with his own kid, with Katelyn. “Yeah, kid. Then we’re going home.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not super happy with the ending of this chapter but I hope y'all enjoy!!!!

The end of the weekend brought the return of the rest of the foxes, and with that came a whole new set of people to introduce Drew and Nathaniel to. Of course, Renee and Nicky had already met them, but Aaron was still dreading having to deal with it.

He helped Andrew to turn around his shirt, since he had been putting it on the wrong way around, and then helped him to put his arms through the holes. On the other side of the room, Neil was lacing up his own shoes, after assuring Aaron that he would be able to do it on his own. That remained to be seen, but Aaron was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.

“Guys, there are going to be some people coming over today.” He moved to get Andrew’s sneakers, letting them put them on himself before lacing them quickly. “They’re going to want to talk to you, they’re friends with Renee, Nicky and I.”

Andrew, who had looked bored until the mention of Renee, frowned at him. “I do not want to talk to people.”

Aaron chuckled. “I know, Drew, it’ll just be for a while okay? Then we can get rid of them.”

Neil was ready by the time Andrew was, and they both went out to the kitchen and climbed their way onto the stools by the counter. Aaron got them bowls and poured them both cereal, chocolate flavoured for Andrew and wholemeal for Neil. Then, he gave them both spoons, and poured milk into both bowls. “All of it, or no snacks until dinner.”

God, he was turning into such a _dad_.

He kind of liked it.

The foxes arrived before the boys had finished their breakfast, led by Nicky and Renee. Aaron had told them to brief them beforehand, since he didn’t know how Andrew or Neil would handle the foxes at their loudest. Hopefully, they had listened.

Renee smiled beatifically when she saw the boys, and they smiled in return- well, Neil smiled, and Andrew waved his spoon at her in greeting. Nicky grinned at them as he came in too, and ruffled Neil’s hair as he grabbed some crackers from the cupboard. Aaron braced himself for impact.

Allison and Kevin came in first, and both had wildly different reactions to the kids. Allison seemed to light up, while Kevin stopped dead, fear clearly visible on his face. Allison walked up to them, stopping an arms-reach away.

“Oh, they’re so little... I’m Allison, you’re Andrew and Nathaniel, right?” They simply stared at her, and she grinned. “I’m Renee’s girlfriend, she told me all about you guys.”

Andrew narrowed his eyes, and Neil nodded slowly, before offering her a small smile.

“You’re pretty.”

Aaron huffed a laugh and grabbed his mug of coffee. Six year old Neil had game, he’d give him that.

Allison grinned and then reached out, offering to pick him up. Neil glanced at Aaron, and after he just shrugged, allowed, it, wrapping his little arms around her neck. Andrew looked pointedly annoyed, and swung his legs a little more aggressively than he had been. Aaron smothered a grin. He knew that adult Andrew was possessive, but it was adorable to see it so clearly.

Kevin still looked faintly like he was going to throw up, and Andrew had seemingly had enough of it, even though Aaron hadn’t even noticed Andrew looking at him at all since he entered. He crossed his arms, not moving from his chair but using all of the sarcasm his little voice could muster.

“Take a picture, it’ll last longer.”

Allison snorted, and Aaron couldn’t help but do the same. This whole experience was really giving him a new appreciation for his brother, whether or not that was a good thing.

Kevin shook his head, clearing his thoughts and then smiling weakly. “Uh, hi. I’m Kevin.”

Neil made a small noise, wriggling in Allison’s arms to see him. “Kevin? I know a Kevin!”

Oh. _Oh_. _That’s_ why Kevin had looked sick. Aaron’s stomach twisted uncomfortably.

The moment passed, albeit awkwardly, and then Matt and Dan finally made their entrance, both gasping audibly as they saw the boys. They dragged their gazes between the two, and seemed to be lost for words. Dan recovered quickly though, and the smiled warmly at them.

“I’m Dan, this is Matt. I’m the captain of the Foxes.”

Neil widened his eyes and grinned, and Andrew rolled his eyes behind him. “You’re the captain!? You’re _amazing_.”

Dan grinned, and seemed flustered as she ran a hand through her hair. “You think so? Thank you, Nathaniel.”

Neil looked happy, and she patted Allison’s arm to put him down, which she did. He squeezed her legs in a quick hug, before returning to Andrew and climbing back up into his seat. Satisfied, now that Neil was back with him, Andrew went back to eating.

“They should really be eating health-“ Kevin started, before Aaron shut him up with a glare.

“They’re kids, Kevin. Shut up.”

Andrew and Neil allowed the foxes to fuss over them for a while, although both were visibly getting agitated from all of the attention. Aaron allowed them to stay for almost two hours, until Andrew started to get fidgety, clearly uncomfortable with the spotlight they were both under. Aaron could respect that, and he politely- at least, he thought it was politely- kicked them out. Renee was the last to leave, and Andrew allowed her to press a kiss to his hair before she went, before he gave Aaron an irritated look.

Aaron rolled his eyes. “That wasn’t so bad, Drew. Now, how about a nap before we go grocery shopping?”

Both of the boys agreed to that, so Aaron helped them down off the stools and ushered them towards the bedroom again. Aaron had them sleeping in their own room, for convenience, and he helped them to change into sleep clothes before they could pass out in their normal ones. He had offered that they could each have a bunk bed to themselves, but they seemed to prefer sharing. They fit pretty well, which was unsurprising since they had been able to fit as adults too. They both climbed in eagerly, and Aaron tugged the duvet so it covered their body as well as their feet, before leaving them to fall asleep.

In fact, a nap didn’t sound so bad to him either. It wasn’t as if he had anything else to do either since he was between assignments, so he walked out to the couch and sat down, letting himself fall asleep propped up against the cushions.

 

********************

 

Andrew woke up first, naturally, and carefully left Neil asleep in the bed to go and find Aaron, who was getting started on making lunch for them. Steaming pots sat on the stove, and it smelled amazing. Aaron was pretty proud of himself, if he was being honest.

“Drew? Are you okay?”

Andrew yawned and then scrubbed at his hair with his hand, making it stand up cutely in an impressive bed head for a six year old. He stretched his back out, and then turned a serious look on Aaron.

Oh boy.

“Who are you?”

Aaron blinked, and then swore as the pot of pasta threatened to boil over, rushing over to stir it quickly. “What the fuck- I’m Aaron, Drew. I told you that.”

Andrew wasn’t in the mood for jokes, it seemed, and he crossed his arms. “You look like me.”

Aaron switched off the hob and pulled the pot off the heat, getting the strainer ready for it before turning back to face Andrew, holding his hands out in offering. Andrew nodded once, so Aaron lifted him up to sit on the counter.

“Well, we…” He huffed. With Andrew, there really wasn’t any option other than telling him the truth. “We were twins, Drew.”

“You are not six.” Andrew raised a pale eyebrow at him.

“No, I’m not. It’s just… you weren’t either. You were 22, up until a few days ago.” Aaron watched disbelief register on the kid’s face, and chuckled softly.

“I was big?” Andrew frowned.

“Yeah, you were. Neil too.” Aaron nodded. “You’re my brother, Neil is my… friend.” Well, if _that_ wasn’t fucking weird to say.

Andrew nodded slowly. “And we’ll be big again soon?”

“I really hope so, Drew.”

Andrew nodded slowly, and then seemed to be satisfied with what he had learned, since he turned on his heel and walked back to where Neil was probably still asleep.

Aaron sighed, and then strained out the pasta, adding the sauce he had made to it and stirring it in. Katelyn had taught him how to make it, and she had learned it from her mother. She had told him that she was planning on teaching it to their children too, a thought that had made Aaron feel warm all over. He really wasn’t that bad at this whole parenting thing, surprisingly enough. He had worried that he would be like his mother, quick to anger and quicker to hurt, but he had been able to keep his temper mostly under check so far. Katelyn said that he would be a good dad too, and he had to admit that if it would be like this, he really couldn’t wait to be one.

Med school, kids, gorgeous girlfriend. Aaron hadn’t ever even dared to hope for his own little white picket fence, but it seemed it had fallen into his lap anyways. He wondered if Andrew ever felt this way when he thought about Neil, even if the thought of Josten still pissed him off sometimes.

He really hoped he did.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oof here's an angsty little chapter, I promise the next one will be longer and also fluffier! Enjoy <3

Aaron was really sick of being woken up at all hours of the night, and he expressed that rather gracefully if you asked him. 

"What the fuck do you want?"

He was met with silence, and he groaned before pushing the duvet down and sitting up slowly. Katelyn was asleep beside him, her hair fanned out across the pillow and he felt her stir as he moved. He felt annoyed about it for a second, before he saw who had woken him. 

It was Andrew. Of course it was Andrew, but he had an arm around Neil, who looked sickly pale. Aaron sat up straighter and then pushed the duvet off completely. 

"Nathaniel?" The boy was shaking, just a little, and he looked like he had been crying. Immediately, Katelyn had pushed herself up too, her hand finding Aaron's shoulder in the dark. 

He leaned back to kiss her cheek before getting out of the bed, crouching in front of the two boys.

"Nathaniel, can you tell me what's wrong?" The boy pressed his lips together tighter, and Andrew frowned beside him.

"Are you sick?" He shook his head.

"A nightmare?" That time, there was a small nod. Aaron's heart sank.

"Your father?" Nathaniel seemed to freeze, and then he shook his head again.

Aaron took a deep breath. "Your mother, then?" 

He nodded, and then brought an arm up to scratch at his check, tugging his shirt down in the process. "She doesn't like it when I talk too much."

Andrew went stock still beside him and his grip tightened just slightly. Katelyn made a small noise behind him, and he felt her moving forward on the bed.

Aaron felt a jolt of pity go through him as Neil's eyes filled with tears again, and he reached out to wipe his face gently. It may have been on a smaller scale, but he had been that kid. He knew what it felt like, and those scars he was scratching had to have been within the last year of the kids life at least. Fuck.

"Would you... like to stay here with us?" Katelyn's voice was quiet, but Neil heard her anyway, his gaze shifting to her. There were a couple of beats of silence, before he nodded. 

She smiled softly. "Andrew? You too?" 

Andrew nodded, as if it had ever been a question. 

Aaron wiped Neil's face dry again, and then straightened his shirt. "She won't hurt you again, Nathaniel. We won't let that happen, we promise. I know that doesn't make it better, but you won't be hurt again here."

Neil swallowed loudly and then sniffed, nodding, before throwing his arms around Aaron's neck. 

Aaron froze, not expecting it, but he was quick to recover. "You're okay, Nathaniel."

There was another wet, sniffing noise before the kid spoke again. "I think I like Neil."

Aaron choked out a laugh. "Yeah? I think I do too."

He lifted Neil up and carried him to the bed, where Andrew and Katelyn were already waiting. They had pushed the beds together so that Katelyn would have room anyway, so they all fit on the same double bed space. Katelyn and Andrew fell asleep again pretty easily, both curled up and snoring softly, although Andrew's fist was still wrapped up in Neil's shirt. Neil seemed to have immense difficulty getting back to sleep, which was no surprise, but Aaron stayed up with him, letting him cry and shuffle around as much as he needed.

His tiny body shuddered every so often, and Aaron eventually traded him his own shirt when his little one had gotten wet and snotted on. Neil seemed warmer then, and his eyes began to get drowsy.

He fell asleep eventually too, and then Aaron allowed himself to sleep. He had never, ever thought that he would fall asleep cuddled up to Neil Josten, nor that his girlfriend would fall asleep curled up with Andrew, but he supposed that life was full of surprises.

 

********************

 

The energy in the dorm was fairly subdued the following morning, with Katelyn helping Andrew out with his bath while Aaron made breakfast, with Neil's help. The kid was quiet, more quiet than was comfortable, and Aaron could feel the worry in his gut like a stone.

"Hey, Neil. How are you feeling?"

The kid paused where he had been carefully cracking eggs into a bowl, fishing out any pieces he dropped in by accident. He wiped his hand on his pants- Aaron had _just_ washed those- and then turned to look up at him. "My mom and dad never let me in their room when I had bad dreams."

Aaron sighed and then got out a whisk, laying it on the counter with the eggs. "That's because they were shitty parents, Neil. You deserved nicer parents than that."

"Did you have nice parents?"

The million dollar question, really. Aaron felt his grip tighten on the counter, and he forced himself to release it. "No, I didn't. Not as bad as yours, I'm sure, but not good."

A small crease formed between Neil's eyebrows. "If they were bad, then it doesn't matter if mine are worse."

Aaron blinked, and then frowned slightly. "Yeah, I guess you're right." 

Neil picked up the whisk with a tiny hand. "Where are they now? Your parents?"

"Dead." Aaron probably should have phrased it differently, something more suitable for a child, but he didn't think Neil had ever gotten the chance to be one. As it was, the boy just nodded grimly.

"Good." 

Aaron huffed a laugh and then heated up the frying pan. God, they were so fucked up. "Let's just get breakfast made, yeah? I can show you how to make french toast the way Andrew likes it."

Neil nodded and then smiled softly, and Aaron felt his chest relax a little for the first time in hours. Things were going to be okay.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A fluffy chapter this time, it's more of a second part to the last chapter but I thought the shift in mood was too jarring for a single chapter! Andrew is such a sweet boy I love him so much

“Just crack the fucking egg, Neil, it’s not hard.”

Aaron groaned as Neil let more egg fall onto the counter, and he reached out to take it off his hands, cracking the rest of them easily and letting the kid dispose of the shells happily. He hated cleaning, and he had been doing a sickening amount of it recently, but he hadn’t wanted to make Andrew and Neil do chores while they were still little. Didn’t stop the little fuckers from making a mess, though.

He gave Neil a fork then, and let him mix the egg, only spilling a little in the process. He seemed pretty proud of himself though, and Aaron showed him how to season it to make it sweeter, how Andrew liked it. He also made a smaller, more savoury bowl to make it for Neil and himself, since some of them _didn’t_ want to go into a sugar induced coma before they turned 25. Then, he helped Neil to dip in the slices of bread he had gotten from the cabinet into the egg mixture and place them into the pan, careful not to let the oil splash on the boy. The sizzling seemed to make him happy and he excitedly tended to the frying bread, his eyes bright and an easy grin on his face. Aaron took the time to check his phone, scrolling through twitter for a while and then messaging back a couple of foxes who were asking after the kids. Thank fuck this had happened during the holidays, he had no idea how he would have explained Andrew and Neil’s sudden absence if it hadn’t been. He took a quick picture of Neil after asking his permission, and sent it into the group chat, immediately getting responses from everyone who was online.

Andrew was finished with his bath by the time Neil had cooked off the sweet French toast, barefoot and dressed in the space patterned shirt and blue jeans Nicky had gotten for him. His hair was damp and messy, freshly towel dried from the looks of it, and Katelyn followed him out, dumping the towels and Andrew’s other dirty clothes into the laundry to be washed. She winked at Aaron as she helped Andrew up onto the kitchen stool and got him a glass of water, only stopping briefly to kiss him as she wiggled past him to the sink. She was wearing her own jeans and one of Aaron’s old jerseys, just a little damp from the endeavour that was giving Andrew a bath.

She looked _breath-taking_.

Neil carefully moved the French toast to a clean plate, looking at Aaron before dumping some icing sugar on it. It wasn’t the prettiest meal in the world, but Andrew didn’t seem to mind as he tore it apart into smaller pieces using a fork and knife. Neil beamed with pride and his cheeks tinged a faint pink when Andrew said it was good, before he started on the savoury French toast, with all of the seriousness of a professional chef. It was pretty fucking adorable, and if the way Katelyn wrapped an arm around him and made a small cooing noise was any indication, she agreed with him. It was disgustingly domestic, really, but Aaron couldn’t bring himself to mind too much. He enjoyed letting himself be less aggressive around them, they didn’t deserve it anyway. There were only kids, after all. Still, he allowed himself a moment of annoyance as Andrew rocked forward in his head, sticking an arm out towards where Neil was.

“Shit, Andrew I _told_ you not to touch the food when it’s in the pan!”

There really wasn’t any rest for the wicked, at least not with two six year olds around.

 

********************

 

Katelyn had wanted to be a mom as long as she could remember. When she was a little girl, she used to play with baby dolls and act the parent, feeding them and tucking them in at night and pretending that it was a real baby. She had been excited to start a family of her own, and doubly so when her and Aaron had started getting serious. Aaron wanted kids too, and Katelyn had always thought that he would be an amazing father.

It was pretty nice to see it in action, though.

As it was, he was across the room with his legs up on the couch, Neil curled up by his feet with his eyes fixed on the television screen. Neil had taken a real liking to him surprisingly, given their normal relationship, and Aaron had warmed up to the kid considerably.

Andrew, on the other hand, was firmly pressed into her side, holding a book in his hands. It was a tattered copy of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone that Aaron had gotten from the house in Colombia, and he had been engrossed in it for the past couple of hours. Katelyn had known that Andrew was an intelligent man, but she hadn’t anticipated that he would be so bright for his age as a child. He struggled with some of the words, of course, but Katelyn was happy to explain them to him whenever he poked her arm before gesturing to a word. She had made a joke about Matilda, but Andrew hadn’t understood it. She showed him the movie then, and he had seemed flattered at the comparison.

Katelyn really hoped that he wouldn’t remember this when he was back to normal again. He would kill her if he knew how much she was enjoying a much smaller, sweeter Andrew.

She wasn’t sure exactly when Neil and Aaron fell asleep, but she noticed it when Andrew tugged at her sleeve. She chuckled softly and then looked down at him. “Do you need help with a word, buddy?”

Andrew shook his head. He had been improving even over the day, due to his good memory for words and their meanings.

“Are you Aaron’s wife?”

Katelyn went red and then chuckled, shaking her head. “No, Drew. I’m his girlfriend, but I might end up being his wife if we get married.”

Andrew nodded, looking as if he was trying to figure something out. “Reynolds?”

Katelyn giggled. Little Andrew had held onto the habit of only calling Allison by her surname, much to Allison’s annoyance. Aaron was pretty sure it was because Neil liked her so much, and Katelyn thought that that was pretty damn adorable. The kid was smitten, in the most Andrew way possible. “Allison is Renee’s girlfriend, Drew.”

“Girls can have girlfriends.” He nodded to himself, as if confirming something in his head. “Nicky is dating someone too.”

Katelyn felt like this was probably more important of a conversation than she had thought. “His boyfriend, Erik. He lives in Germany.”

Andrew tapped his finger on his book twice, before nodding and then closing the book. Katelyn noted the page for when he inevitably forgot where he had stopped. He seemed deep in thought, but just as quickly as it had come, it went away again. “Can we have ice cream?”

Katelyn smiled and then ruffled his hair gently, helping him down off the couch. “Of course. Don’t tell Aaron, okay?”

Andrew zipped his lips and turned it firmly, and Katelyn felt her chest squeeze at the cuteness of it. This kid was going to be the death of her.

 

********************

 

When he heard the boys start to scream downstairs, Aaron’s heart stopped.

He was downstairs in a matter of seconds, skipping several steps on the way down and skidding his way into the kitchen. His chest was contracting painfully, and all he could think about was that one of them was hurt, one of them could be really badly hurt. “Andrew!? Neil!?”

His heart was pounding by the time he came to a stop in he kitchen, and he was breathing hard.

Andrew and Neil stared at him from where they sat, colouring books between them with crayons scattered on the carpet.

“What’s wrong? Are you both okay?”

Neil crossed his arms, and Andrew huffed angrily.

“Neil won’t share his crayons.”

Aaron blinked, and then felt his heart finally start to beat normally again. “What?”

Andrew pointed at the horde of crayons Neil had gathered over by himself, and his lip wobbled threateningly. “Neil took all of them!”

Lord, give me strength.

Aaron pinched his nose and took several deep breaths, before looking at them. “And you thought you’d start screaming at me as a solution?”

“You were upstairs.” There wasn’t a single bit of remorse in Andrew’s voice, and Aaron almost laughed. Little shit.

“Neil, share your fucking crayons. Katelyn bought them for both of you.”

Neil pouted, but then nodded, pushing them over towards Andrew gently, who started to colour with them immediately, oddly neat for a child.

“Better? Now, I’m going back upstairs.” He shook his head and then wiped his face with a hand. He had always known Andrew would give him a heart attack at some point, but he definitely hadn’t predicted the circumstances. “If you need me, call me like a _human_ next time, yeah?”

Andrew grinned and nodded. “Okay.”

Aaron sighed, and then started making his way back upstairs. Little bastards, the both of them.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so this is short and pretty shitty but I owe y'all a chapter. Enjoy!!!!!

“Kevin, what the fuck.”

Aaron groaned and then stepped aside to let the man in, closing the door behind them. The dorm was a mess, toys and crayons and other various items scattered on the table, the carpet and the couch and he had been planning on cleaning it all up before anyone came over but _apparently_ Kevin Day didn’t sleep.

Kevin put a paper bag down on the counter and then grinned at Aaron, who rolled his eyes. He tugged some pieces of fabric out of the bag then, and Aaron could tell what it was almost immediately.

“Andrew is going to stab you, and I’m not going to stop him.”

As if he had been eavesdropping, Andrew wandered in, yawning and scratching his head. “Why would I stab Kevin?”

He looked adorable, wearing an oversized shirt and some pyjama pants, his hair sticking up at odd angles, and Aaron found himself smiling. It was weird, having Andrew be so comfortable and… content around the foxes, but Aaron welcomed it. It was almost like having Andrew grow up as his brother again, and it soothed some old scars that Aaron had never thought would be improved.

“Kevin bought you exy gear.” Aaron laughed as Andrew immediately started to scowl, turning a glare on Kevin. It was eerily similar to the glare that adult Andrew gave people, though distinctly less fear-inspiring.

“I do not want to play exy.” Andrew crossed his arms, and Kevin deflated slightly. That was, until another little voice came from the bedroom.

“What about exy?” Neil was bright eyed and awake looking despite the early hour, and he practically lit up when he saw the smaller version of the Foxes uniforms. Andrew groaned, and Aaron echoed the sentiment perfectly.

Kevin smirked, knowing he had won and tossing the jersey to Neil, who ran to the bedroom to put it on. Even as a kid, he was addicted to the sport. Andrew sighed, long suffering and defeated, and Aaron almost laughed. “You don’t have to play, you know. Not if you don’t want to.”

Andrew grimaced. “Neil wants to.”

He said it matter of factly, as if that settled everything. Maybe it did, in his mind. God, Aaron was going to make his life _miserable_ when he was grown up again, after seeing him pining like this.

“Then you’d better get changed, Drew.” Aaron laughed and grabbed the other jersey, holding it out to the boy. Andrew glared at him, and then started to take his shirt off.

 

********************

 

Neil was good. Scary good, for a child.

Aaron could see that Kevin was almost vibrating with excitement, having raw talent to work with. Although, if he started to yell at either of them, there was going to be a problem. Andrew, on the other hand, was sitting down in the goals, since he had no interest in playing. Kevin had tried to make him, a couple of times, but Andrew had just stared at him until he gave up and went back to doing drills with Neil.

Neil was a bundle of energy, running back and forth in an attempt to keep up with everything Kevin was teaching him. He was _fast_ too. Aaron knew that Neil liked to go for runs, sometimes they had bumped into each other when he was coming back from Katelyn’s for practice, but he hadn’t realised how fast the little fucker was.

He came bounding over to Aaron looking for water, and Aaron held up the bottle of water to him so he could take a drink.

“Did you see that!?” He grinned and bounced on his feet and Aaron nodded, wiping his face with a towel gently. “Kevin said I could be as good as him someday!”

Aaron rolled his eyes and then laughed. “Yeah? Maybe even better, dude.”

Neil gasped and then grinned. “You think so?”

Aaron nodded, and then yawned, stretching his arm. “Yeah. You know, Andrew will probably play if you ask him.”

Neil tilted his head and then nodded, before turning on his heel and running over to the goals. Aaron watched him talking to Andrew, and smirked as Andrew got to his feet. Oh, he would definitely be making fun of Andrew when they were back to normal. He had thought _Neil_ was the clingy one.

Kevin raised an eyebrow as Andrew took up stance in goal, and then grinned, showing Neil how best to place his feet to take a shot. Neil did exactly as he said, shooting the ball and laughing delightedly. Almost effortlessly, Andrew sent it bouncing back along the court, and Aaron saw Kevin’s jaw drop just slightly. Figured, that Andrew was just naturally good at the sport too.

Aaron grinned and then put his feet up on the bench. It would be nice for Kevin to take them off his hands for a little while, at least.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More fluff!!!! Nicky my love

Nicky was good with kids.

He had babysat for Erik’s family all the time when he had been living in Germany, and the man had had a lot of little nieces and nephews. Nicky loved kids, he had even gone so far as to discus adopting with Erik in the future, when they were living together again and he had gotten a stable job. It had taken a long time to overcome his apprehension of being around children though, borne from his father’s certainty that he would taint any children he came into contact with.

He shook his head, nearly disrupting the children who were sitting on the couch with him. He didn’t care about what his father thought anymore. He was good with kids, and he couldn’t taint them because he wasn’t wrong.

“Nicky? Are you okay?”

Neil was looking up at him, having stopped in the middle of drawing. His eyes were such a bright blue, Nicky still couldn’t get over it.

“Yeah, Neil. I’m okay, I was just thinking about my parents.”

Neil frowned. “Were your parents bad too?”

Nicky swallowed and then ruffled the kid’s hair, unfolding his legs from underneath him. “Yeah, they were, but I’m okay now. I have you guys, and the rest of the foxes!”

Neil gave him a small smile and then nodded, pausing briefly to press his face against Nicky’s arm before going back to drawing. Nicky felt his heart swell, and he grinned. Neil was a talented artist, he had discovered, although his subject matter was pretty limited. He loved drawing pawprints, the little sketchbook Katelyn had bought was covered in them. There were Exy related drawings too, racquets and Foxes uniforms and even some stylised drawings of the Foxes themselves. Nicky thought he looked _fabulous_.

Andrew, on the other hand, had been almost religiously playing video games ever since Matt had found his old Gameboy handheld and a couple of games. He was good at them too, although he had to be pried away from it in order to eat sometimes.

“Hey, Drew. You okay there?”

Andrew didn’t look away from the game he was playing, but he gave him a small thumbs up. Nicky accepted it, and then leaned over to watch him playing.

“Wanna tell me about the game?”

Andrew paused it and then looked up at him, looking slightly suspicious, before starting to describe the game to him. His voice was as deadpan as ever, even at it’s current higher pitch, although his words began to run together in what Nicky thought was excitement. He cleared the level, and looked quietly pleased with himself, so Nicky offered to get him ice cream to celebrate.

As he was leaving the room to go get it, he heard Andrew start to talk about the game to Neil, who put his pencil down to listen enthusiastically.

God, they were so fucking _cute_.

He got some yoghurt and fruit, putting it in a bowl before bringing it all back inside. He knew that Neil didn’t want to be left out while Andrew was eating, but he also knew that the kid didn’t particularly like ice cream.

“Here boys, don’t spill any on the couch okay?”

He took the Gameboy and the sketchbook, putting them on the table before giving them their respective bowls. Neil thanked him softly, while Andrew offered him a slight smile. Nicky still couldn’t handle these smaller, more affectionate versions of Andrew and Neil, but he sure as hell wasn’t complaining. He just hoped that they’d be able to give them some nice memories.

 

********************

 

“You guys ready for some dinner?”

Nicky grinned and then plated up the food, setting them down on the table again. They were a much less spicy version of what he usually made, on account of the little mouths he was feeding, and he didn’t want them to burn their mouths too bad. Andrew nodded and then hopped up onto the seat, helping Neil up onto his before turning around and putting his hands on the counter. Nicky handed them both cutlery and they both started to eat right away, as he poured them both glasses of water.

“Is it alright?” Both of the boys nodded, and Neil grinned at him. Nicky chuckled and then put his own portion on a plate, a spicier version that he had made separately.

Just because he was living amongst white people, didn’t mean he had to _eat_ like one.

The boys ate quickly, and soon enough they brought their empty plates to the sink for Nicky to wash. There was only two hours left before they had to go to bed, and three until Aaron and Katelyn were going to be coming back from their date-day, so he let them go back to playing rather than helping him out with the cleaning. He didn’t mind it so much anyway; it would be practice for when he and Erik had kids of their own.

He heard the boys setting their stuff back up inside, and he grinned, turning on the taps and letting the sink fill with warm water so he could wash up the plates and pots he had used.

He had always thought that Andrew as a kid would be horrible, based on his experience of the man as an adult. Sure, he knew that Andrew cared about him, but that didn’t mean that he had ever been _nice_ about it.

Still, now that he had had the pleasure of meeting them, he was certain that if his future kids turned out anything like Neil or Andrew, he’d consider himself pretty blessed.

 

********************

 

Aaron had had a pretty good day, all in all.

He and Katelyn had been spending so much time with Andrew and Neil recently that Nicky had practically forced them to go out and spend the day together, doing whatever they wanted. It had been appreciated, since they had been feeling pretty run down from it, but that didn’t mean that Aaron hadn’t spent a good portion of the day worrying about them.

Therefore, it was almost a relief when they got back to the apartment, finding Nicky asleep on the couch. Katelyn giggled and let go of Aaron’s hand to go wake the man, kissing his temple and letting him go and check on the kids.

They were asleep, both of them curled up together on the bed the way they usually were. Aaron hadn’t honestly believed that Nicky would make them go to bed on time since he had always been the fun parental figure- not less responsible, just less strict. It wasn’t an unwelcome surprise not to have to deal with two hyper six year olds, though. He leaned against the doorframe, listening to their soft breathing, and Andrew’s slight snoring.

“They’re such sweet kids.” Katelyn’s voice was soft as she put her chin on Aaron’s head, and he could hear the smile there. “Really makes you angry, doesn’t it.”

Aaron knew exactly what she meant, and he took her hand gently. “Yeah, but they’re okay. They end up okay.”

She nodded and then chuckled. “Do you think Andrew will still hate me when they’re back to normal?”

Aaron hadn’t thought about that. He was fairly sure a lot of things would be changing when Andrew and Neil were back to normal. “He seems to really like you now, Kate. Maybe that’ll carry through to when he’s older again.”

Katelyn pressed her lips to Aaron’s hair, and he relaxed back into her. “Yeah, maybe. I hope so.”

Aaron really hoped so too.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw/ for mentions of abuse, and some mild implied smut!!! pls be careful
> 
> here's an andrew and aaron centric one, bc Im feeling sappy

The boys had been kids for almost two weeks now, Aaron figured that it had to be coming to an end soon. He wasn’t sure whether that was a good thing or not.

They had settled into an easy routine, he would wake up in the morning, fool around with Katelyn in bed (provided there had been no nightmares the previous night) before going to the gym, and then get the boys up and ready when he got back. Neil didn’t mind getting up so much, he was easily roused and seemed to enjoy finding things to do while Aaron focused on getting his work done. Andrew, on the other hand, clung to his bed like it held the meaning of life, although he could eventually be persuaded to get up by a much more energetic Neil, even if he wasn’t happy about it.

It was nice. Fitting children into his schedule had been exhausting, but it was so fucking nice.

He groaned as his alarm went off beside him, flailing his arm a little before hitting the clock to shut it off. Katelyn shifted beside him, turning to tighten her arm around him as she pressed a gentle kiss to his jaw.

“Morning.” His voice had a slight growl to it, like it usually did in the morning, and he felt Katelyn’s smile against him.

“Mm, morning. When are you going to the gym?”

Aaron glanced at the clock again. It was just after seven, and he usually headed to the gym at around eight, although he supposed he could hold off until nine. Andrew would appreciate the extra relaxation time in the morning, anyway. He hummed, and then turned a little to face her, pressing a gentle kiss to her nose, and then another one to her lips. “I have some time.”

She grinned and then smoothed a hand down his chest. “Yeah?”

He pushed her back gently and got up to rest between her legs, kissing her again as she wriggled down to wrap her legs around him. He liked her best like this, he was fairly sure, without makeup and still sleep-drunk, her hair like a halo around her head and her body pliant. Aaron had never been a religious man, either, never really bought into Luther’s whole thing, but he had to admit that Katelyn made him believe in some higher power sometimes.

He kissed her breathless, before starting to move down along her body, her hands finding his hair and tangling there, but not pulling. Never pulling, she was so careful about that.

It wasn’t long until she was squirming, making soft noises that made Aaron’s head swim a little. Her thighs were clamped around his head tightly, and if he hadn’t been straining to hear every noise she made, he would have missed the noise from outside completely.

“Aaron?” It was Andrew, as far as he could tell. He pulled back and wiped his mouth, groaning and then sitting back on his heels as Katelyn closed her legs, a slight pout making his bottom lip jut out.

Well, there went that plan. She pulled on her underwear and a one of Aaron’s shirts, and Aaron did the same before going to answer the door. “Yeah, Drew? One sec, I’ll be right there.”

Hopefully they’d be back to normal sooner rather than later, so he and Katelyn could finally have sex without interruption.

He doubted it would be happening for a while, though.

********************

Andrew’s life had never been simple, which was why it was so… odd, that so little was expected of him by the people around him. In his previous foster homes they had made him clean up after his brothers and sisters, help with the cooking, keep the babies quiet. He hadn’t enjoyed it, but he hadn’t wanted them to throw him out.

It hadn’t stopped them, though.

Not Aaron, though. Aaron didn’t ask him to do much, only suggested that Andrew could help if he wanted, Neil too. He didn’t even get mad when they didn’t want to, either. He didn’t get mad very much at _all_ , even if Andrew could tell that he wanted to.

Aaron did most of the cooking and cleaning himself, but his girlfriend helped. Katelyn was pretty, and she smiled a lot. None of Andrew’s old foster mothers smiled a lot, helped him to tie his shoes, or wait for him to read no matter how slowly he did it. There weren’t even any social workers making her, either. She just seemed to like it.

She did it for Neil too, but he was still uncomfortable around her. When Andrew had asked about it he had mumbled something about his father’s friends, but then dropped the subject. Either way, he tended to stick closer to Aaron. Andrew didn’t mind, really though, because Neil always came back to him to play eventually.

They were safe with Aaron and Katelyn. He knew that.

It didn’t stop his nightmares, though.

He shot up in the bed with a whimper before covering his mouth with a hand. He hated crying. He could stop himself most of the time, but nightmares always seemed to catch him off guard. Neil woke up beside him, peering out from under the blankets at him. Andrew sniffed and then shook his head, shoving Neil away gently and getting out of the bed, dangling his feet over the edge before easing himself down.

The hallway was cold, and Andrew really should have put on socks, but he refused to go back in and wake Neil again. He thought about pushing Aaron’s door open, but then stopped to knock beforehand. He didn’t know how far Aaron’s patience extended, after all. He had been let down before, this would hardly be the first time.

He heard some shuffling inside, and then Aaron calling out to him, telling him to wait. He bit his lip gently and then waited quietly, but still startled when Aaron pulled the door open. He looked tired- oh, Andrew had probably woken him up.

Before he could feel bad about it, he schooled his face into his usual neutral expression. Frowning had gotten him beaten, and smiling had gotten him worse. Better to show nothing at all, really.

“Did you have a nightmare, Drew?” Aaron blinked, and then crouched down to Andrew’s height. Andrew wondered if he just instinctively knew that it made Andrew more comfortable not to be towered over. Probably not, but Andrew appreciated it anyway. He nodded, and then allowed Aaron to put an arm around him, picking him up.

“Do you want to sleep some more with us, or would you rather a bath to clear your head? Or waffles?”

All good options, as far as Andrew was concerned. Still, he was pretty tired. “Sleep.”

Aaron chuckled, and then carried him back to the bed where Katelyn was sitting cross legged. She made space for Andrew easily between them, the bed warm already when Andrew curled up there. Aaron followed him in, and Andrew quickly took a handful of his shirt as he jammed a thumb into his mouth. He didn’t want them to leave, while he was asleep.

Katelyn brushed a kiss on his forehead as she settled down again to sleep, and he felt his face start to heat up.

He was pretty sure that no one had ever done that before.

“Goodnight, Andrew.” Aaron’s hand grazed over Andrew’s side as he reached over to take Katelyn’s one, and Andrew felt boxed in in the best way possible. He figured that Neil would join them before long too, and that Katelyn and Aaron wouldn’t leave him until he woke up. It was weird, that he was so sure of it.

He closed his eyes, and then curled up more than before. He was safe.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaa we're so close to the end! I owed you guys an update so here's one, with Neil and Andrew being back to normal!!!!

“What. The. Fuck.”

Aaron barely had time to open his eyes before he felt something shoving at him, knocking him out of the bed. The floor was cold and hard, and he cried out as his back slammed against it, pushing himself back up into a sitting position.

“Andrew are you o-” Aaron paused, and then swallowed. Instead of the six year old he had been expecting he was met with a very confused, very angry adult Andrew. “Oh.”

Neil and Katelyn had woken up by then too, Neil having crawled to the other side of the bed away from everyone. His eyes were wide, and he seemed to be panicking a little. No wonder, they had just woken up sandwiched between Katelyn and him after all, in their normal bodies.

“Andrew-”

“Get out.” Andrew’s voice was quiet, but Aaron heard it and he didn’t even hesitate, just gathering his things and leaving, waiting for Katelyn at the door. Her eyes were wide with fear as she hurried out, and Aaron couldn’t blame her. Andrew was a little terrifying on a good day.

Today was not a good day for him.

They decided to wait in the kitchen, in case Andrew and Neil came down looking for answers. They weren’t particularly looking _forward_ to the conversation, but they figured that they owed it to them. They were bound to be pretty confused, considering. He turned on the kettle, so that he could make them coffee. He hadn’t wanted the kettle at first, but Neil had insisted on it when he had seen Andrew microwave water for tea one day. He really didn’t like agreeing with Josten on anything, but he had to admit… the kettle was pretty useful.

Speaking of which, Aaron was pretty confused as to how he felt about the both of them. Taking care of them when they were kids had… endeared them to him a lot more than they had been capable of as adults, and he could still feel that protectiveness towards them. Even Josten.

He wasn’t sure if they’d be as open to it now, though.

“Aar?” Katelyn set town a steaming mug of coffee in front of him and kissed him on the cheek. “Are you okay?”

Huh. Aaron hadn’t even noticed that the kettle had boiled. “Thanks.”

“Do you think they’ll remember? Any of it?”

Aaron sighed and then took a sip. “I don’t see why not. They’re going to hate me, Katelyn.”

She frowned. “Why the hell would they hate you? For giving a shit about them? Making sure they didn’t starve to death, giving them a decent childhood? They should be _thanking_ you, Aaron.”

“Kate-”

“She’s right.”

Aaron turned in his seat quickly, splashing coffee over the back of his hand. Neil was standing at the doorway. He had gotten changed into other clothes, and he seemed a lot calmer than he had been when he first woke up. Andrew had probably helped with that.

“Josten. Are you… okay?” The words felt awkward in Aaron’s mouth, and he took another sip to avoid making eye contact.

Neil just smiled at him, though. It was weird, since adult Neil had never smiled at Aaron as far as he could remember, but it was… nice. Maybe things weren’t completely ruined after all.

There was still Andrew, though.

“I’m fine, thanks to you.” He walked over to the counter and picked up a banana, peeling it and breaking off pieces with his fingers as he ate it. “You didn’t have to take care of us, but you did.”

Aaron blinked. “You were kids, someone had to take care of you.”

Neil smiled again, and then shrugged. “Still, you didn’t have to. It was… really nice. You were really good at it, too, both of you.”

Aaron nodded slowly and then stirred his coffee. “Andrew?”

Neil’s smile tightened a little. “Andrew… he’s finding it difficult to adjust. He’s not used to being vulnerable I guess. Or taken care of.”

“He doesn’t hate me then?”

That earned him a weird look. “Why would he hate you? You made sure he was comfortable.”

Aaron flushed a little. “He deserved to have some good memories.” He paused, and then sighed. “So did you.”

Neil huffed a laugh and then made himself a mug of coffee, with some hot chocolate for Andrew. “Yeah. He’ll probably come to talk to you later, just… give him some time.”

He kneed the fridge closed and then picked up the mugs, walking to the door before pausing. “We moved to our own room, by the way. You and Katelyn can come back upstairs.”

Katelyn smiled and nodded, sliding an arm around Aaron’s waist. “Thank you, Neil.”

Neil nodded, and then turned to go upstairs. Aaron let out a breath that he hadn’t realised he had been holding, and the relaxed against her a little.

“They don’t hate me.”

Katelyn rolled her eyes. “Of course not, Aar. They’re your family.”

Aaron nodded slowly. Family.

Huh.

********************

“Andrew?”

Neil put down the mugs he was carrying on the bedside locker, and then moved to sit on the bed. Andrew was still sitting with his back to the wall, the blankets bunched up around him. The only reason that Neil knew that he had noticed him at all was that he shifted slightly to the left, making room for Neil to sit down with him.

Neil did exactly that, waiting until his back was pressed firmly against the wall to hand Andrew his hot chocolate, the man murmuring a soft thanks under his breath.

“I talked to Aaron.” Neil kept his voice soft. “He’s worried about you.”

Andrew set his jaw. “I’m fine.”

“Stealing my lines, now?” Neil raised an eyebrow and then shook his head. “He’s worried that you’ll hate him, for taking care of us.”

Andrew didn’t say anything, for so long that Neil was almost sure that he wasn’t going to. Still, he waited him out.

“He did well.”

Neil nodded stiffly. Aaron had done exceedingly well, considering the circumstances. Neil remembered being upset a few times, but he also remembered Aaron being there to calm him down, to help him. He remembered being allowed to play Exy for fun, being allowed to go to the park for the first time. He was sure that it was much the same for Andrew, even more so given Andrew’s perfect recollection. Aaron had allowed them to be kids, for the first time in their short lives.

Neil knew that that meant as much to Andrew as it had meant to him.

“He did.” Neil moved over a little, resting lightly against Andrew’s shoulder. “It was nice, being able to spend time with you like that. You were a sweet kid, I’m really glad you were there with me.”

Andrew’s jaw clenched, and Neil worried that he had overstepped. It was true though, little Andrew had been just as intense and protective as adult Andrew, although the world hadn’t quite burned all of the softness out of him yet. He really had been a sweet kid.

Neil allowed himself a moment to mourn for the life that Andrew could have had, before he stopped himself. Andrew didn’t need his pity, and there was nothing good that could come from wishing the past had been different.

Finally, Andrew moved. He slid his hand into Neil’s squeezing gently and making Neil’s stomach do a flip. “Yeah.”

Neil smiled softly, and rested his head on the man’s shoulder. They would be okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time: Andrew talks to Aaron and Katelyn, and some things are sorted out.
> 
> Thank you for reading!


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy birthday @trubenblack, you glorious loser
> 
> And thank you wonderful readers, for making this one of the most enjoyable writing experiences I've ever had! 
> 
> I'll see y'all again very soon, I'm already working on more aftg fic so! 
> 
> (See end for more notes!)

The smell of coffee was pretty integral to Aaron's sense of wellbeing, when he stopped the think about it. Considering the amount of sleep he got, along with the amount of stress his family- Josten reluctantly included- put him under on the daily, it really wasn't that much of a surprise.  
  
Still, there were some days when he needed it more than others. Any day when he attempted to study for his calculus class was one of those days.  
  
He gritted his teeth and balled up the paper throwing it across the room for what felt like the millionth time since he had started, almost an hour earlier. He was training to be a fucking _doctor_ , why did he need single variable calculus anyways? It was stupid.   
  
He wrote out the problem again, and then took a deep breath. He could do this. He was fine.   
  
"Did the paper do something to you?" The voice came from the doorway, and Aaron huffed, looking up.   
  
"Fuck off, Josten, I'm trying to figure this math out."   
  
They had been walking on eggshells around each other lately, since the whole kid thing had really changed everyone's dynamic with each other. There was less overall hostility, that was for sure. But Aaron was tired, and frustrated, so he didn't really give a shit.   
  
He heard Neil pause, and sighed. He could practically _hear_ the man thinking. "What?"   
  
"Thats calculus, right?"   
  
Aaron grimaced. "Unfortunately."  
  
"I could... help you, with it." This was unknown territory for the both of them, and Josten sounded wary even as he suggested it. "I aced that class last year."  
  
Had Aaron been in better form, he probably would have refused. Instead, he just moved the chair over to make room. "I'm failing it, so... yeah. Thanks."  
  
Neil smiled at him and took a seat, looking over the sheet and then humming. "Alright, can you explain to me how you'd find this derivative?"  
  
They worked slowly, taking each exercise at an almost snail's pace, but Aaron felt more and more confident with it as each example was completed. Josten was a good teacher, he had to admit, and it was clear that the man had a passion for the subject.   
  
He could finally grasp the concepts that had seemed so abstract in the lectures, because Neil found a way to bring them down to something that Aaron could work with. It wasn't easy, but Neil didn't judge him for getting anything wrong, just crossed his answer out and pushed him in the right direction. If he had been anyone else, Aaron might have hired him as a tutor.   
  
Neil took a look over the rest of his assignments, making quick notes for him to help him along in future, before reaching for his textbook.   
  
"They gave you this old thing?" He wrinkled his nose. "This book is shit. Andrew probably knows where my old one is, I could root it out for you."  
  
Aaron looked at him. For a man raised among violence and cruelty, Neil seemed to be predisposed to kindness most of the time. Maybe it was his nature, or maybe it was Renee being a bad influence, but Aaron had never considered that it would extend to him.   
  
Huh. Maybe the fact that things had changed wasn't such a bad thing after all.  
  
"Where is Andrew? Wouldn't he normally be dragging you up to the roof by now?" Aaron straightened his papers before stapling them together, putting them into his folder. With Neil's notes, he might actually pass the class after all. The wonders never ceased.   
  
"He's with Bee, he booked an extra session with her today." Neil shrugged and then smiled. "He hadn't been sleeping well, I thought it would be a good idea for him."  
  
Aaron nodded. "It's a good thing he has you, then."  
  
Both men stiffened, and Aaron huffed, clearing his throat. "I mean-"  
  
Neil laughed, cutting him off. It was a bright, clear laugh, and Aaron felt some of the embarrassment fade. "Don't tell Andrew I said that."  
  
Neil feigned hurt. "I would never."  
  
Aaron rolled his eyes. As if Neil wouldn't steal the moon if Andrew asked him to. "Fuck off, I have biology homework to do."  
  
Neil laughed that laugh again, and then stood up, tugging his hoodie down from where it had bundled up. "Yeah, yeah, I'll go wait for Drew to get back. If you need anymore help with calculus homework, you know where to find me."  
  
He left, and Aaron stared at the door for a couple of seconds. Yeah, he guessed he did.   
  
********************  
  
Katelyn hadn't been thinking, that was the only explanation for it. She hadn't been thinking, because if she _had_ been thinking, she wouldn't have done it. She must have had a death wish after all.   
  
Aaron had gone out for groceries, since they had run out of bread, and eggs, and almond milk, so Katelyn was left alone in the apartment with Andrew and Neil. It may have seemed to a paradox, but it was possible to be alone while also being with those two. While she waited for him to return, she had decided study in the kitchen, leaving Andrew and Neil to have the rest of the apartment to themselves. She was only annotating her psychology textbook anyway, and that module wasn't important.   
  
She flicked the kettle on, getting out mugs as she absentmindedly went though the motions of making tea, taking a break from her study. It was a soothing action too, something she and her mother used to do when she was younger.   
  
It wasn't until she had already padded into the sitting room and held out the mug of hot chocolate to Andrew that she froze.   
  
To his credit, he didn't let the shock that he must have been feeling show on his face. He just stared at her evenly, before reaching up to take the mug from her hands. She had made it just the way he liked it, the way he had told her to make it when he was still little, and he took a sip before raising an eyebrow at her.   
  
She swallowed, nervous, before turning on her heel to leave. She had just reached the door, when he finally spoke.   
  
"Katelyn."  
  
She looked at him, her hand on the doorframe. She was pretty sure that was the first time he had ever said her name.  
  
He raised the mug, ever so slightly at her. "Thanks."   
  
It could have been for the hot chocolate, she supposed. Or it could have been a thank you for a little more than that. She didn't know, and she figured that there was no way in hell that Andrew would ever tell her.   
  
It was something, though. It was progress, and that was all that mattered.  
  
********************  
  
It always came back to the roof, for them.   
  
Neil had never put much value in places, since he had never really settled anywhere for so much of his life. It was funny then, how much some places could mean to him. The court, fox tower. The roof.   
  
Andrew was waiting for him there, of course. It was where they had started, it was where Neil Josten had really become real, instead of just being another mask that he had crafted for himself. Andrew had made him real.   
  
"I knew I'd find you here." He smiled softly, as he moved to sit down beside him, inhaling the faint scent of cigarette smoke and letting the last few traces of tension leave his body.   
  
"Perfect place to stage a suicide, don't you agree?" Andrew flicked cigarette ash at him and then sat back, watching as the sun continued its slow descent towards the horizon. "It's the only way I'll ever be rid of you."  
  
Neil hummed, and then shrugged. "True, but then they'd tape it off, and you wouldn't be able to smoke here for a while. Disrespectful, and all that."  
  
Andrew sighed, long suffering. "I suppose you're right."   
  
"Oh sorry, am I bothering you?" Neil grinned.   
  
"Beyond the telling, Josten."  
  
Neil leaned back, closing his eyes and soaking up the last of the sun. Sunsets were a luxury he hadn't often been able to afford, but he had developed quite a like for them, especially those that he shared with Andrew.  
  
"Hey, Drew?"  
  
Andrew stubbed out his cigarette and then tucked his feet up, crossing his legs a little. He ignored the nickname, more pointedly ignoring the warm feeling in his chest that it brought. "Yes?"  
  
"Do you think things will get better now? For you and Aaron?"   
  
Andrew was silent for a while, long enough that Neil had almost given up hope for an answer. Almost. He'd never really give up on Andrew, though.  
  
He lit up another cigarette, passing it to Neil for him to hold before speaking.   
  
"I hope so."   
  
********************  
  
"On your left." Aaron hunched forward, gripping the controller tighter, and Andrew grunted in response, before pumping the approaching zombie full of lead.   
  
Video games had always been something that they had had in common, a sort of no man's land for both of them. They were on the same wavelength when they played games, barely having to speak but understanding each other anyway. That was what Aaron had always imagined that that would be what having a sibling would be like, and it was weird to think that in that way, Andrew had in fact exceeded expectations.   
  
Although, now that he was less angry and clouded by guilt, he was able to admit that in many ways, Andrew had gone above and beyond what was expected of him, not just to Aaron but to everyone who had ever expected anything from him.   
  
"Fuck, backup." Andrew's voice had no sense of urgency to it, but Aaron picked up on it anyway, turning and slicing his way though the horde to get to him, turning so they stood back to back, ready to fight their way out together.   
  
"I've got you." Aaron stretched his fingers, before re-gripping the controller. Time to do what they did best.   
  
Andrew's eyes left the screen for just a moment as he looked at him, but Aaron caught it, caught what could have been a twitch in the man's lips, or simply a trick of the light. Either way, it made Aaron's chest squeeze just slightly, although not as much as what he said, his voice not betraying any emotion.   
  
"Yeah, I know."   
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaaand that's a wrap, folks! 
> 
> I'm gonna be making this into a series a think, and I'll add one shots about the development of their relationships after this, whenever I get the motivation. 
> 
> Thank you for reading! Check out the rest of my fics if you want, and follow me on tumblr @twinyxrds!


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